Round River: If I had a million dollars
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It is the most wonderful time of year! No, I’m not talking about days until the first snowfall. Or days until Thanksgiving. I’m not talking about Christmas break, though I know my kids know exactly how many days until Christmas. For those of us who have been waiting, we are officially through the 2026 election ads! I think many readers will agree that is something to celebrate!
Endless text messages, dozens of mailers, and random phone calls. I stopped watching TV because of the fear-mongering ads and my kids constantly asking, “Is that true!?!?” It was enough to drive even a sane person mad. They weren’t spreading joy and happiness. Oh no, most of them were downright nasty and negative. It had my brain on repeat: “it is almost over, it is almost over, it is almost over.”
We can all take a deep breath now, at least until... March?!?!? You may be asking why I brought this up and what it has to do with the environment. I’ll tell you in a little bit, but I think you may need some background on me and how my brain works.
I grew up with a father who, after leaving farming in the 1980s, went back to school to earn his accounting degree and spent most of his life working as an agricultural loan officer at a local bank. To say he is tight with his spending would be an understatement. I am not as frugal as he is, but I do feel guilty when I splurge on things that might not be necessary. Especially if they are for me. So every time my phone beeped with a political text message, or I tossed another mailer into the recycling bin, I saw dollar signs.
Like most people, I worry about money. I worry about it at home with my family’s budget, and I worry about a budget at work, too. When I hear that $168 million was spent in Iowa alone on the governor and congressional races, oh man, my brain spins. I could do so much with $168 million? What would you do with $168 million? I’m guessing most readers would not spend it on political ads.
So let's pretend you just won the lottery and you are sitting on a fresh $168 million. How would you spend that money? While you wait, I already have a list. This isn’t the first time my brain has run through this exercise. In fact, sometimes at night, when I lie awake with problems running through my brain and I can’t shut down, this is what helps me fall asleep. I run through the scenario where I’ve won the lottery: What am I going to spend all my money on? My loved ones are taken care of. I’ve saved enough money to travel the world and live comfortably for the rest of my life. Then my projects change depending on the day and the problems that worry away at me. The thought of fixing or improving things puts my mind at ease, and often I’m asleep before I know it.
Sometimes the projects fall outside the conservation world. I have and will continue to worry about children who have food insecurity. If the $168 million went toward Iowa’s unpaid school meal debt, students and parents who cannot cover lunch costs would be carefree for the next 70 years. If parents didn’t have to pay for lunches, the $168 million would cover lunches for all Iowa students for the next two years.
However, I mostly think about conservation and recreation projects. If Marshall County Conservation received $168 million, that would be more than seven times what has been budgeted to conservation since its inception close to 70 years ago. With those funds, the range of possible projects in Marshall County is immeasurable.
We could move the Mormon Ridge Log Cabin to the Grimes Farm and create an amazing historical learning cabin to teach the public about the early settlers of Marshall County and Mormon Ridge. We could replace the rotten logs and chinking and return it to its historically accurate single-story structure with a loft. We could add era-appropriate furniture and a garden with 1800s heirloom varieties that settlers would have grown. All of this would bring another rich historical opportunity to the area.
We could help address water quality issues by restoring oxbows throughout Marshall County Conservation Areas. Oxbows are sections of the river that have been cut off from the main river channel. Often, they hold water like wetlands and help remove nitrogen, heavy metals, pesticides, and sediment from our water. They also slow and store water to help manage downstream flooding. Finally, they provide habitat for over 130 species, including Iowa’s endangered species, the Topeka Shiner, a small fish that thrives in Iowa’s prairie streams and oxbows.
We could build cabins at Green Castle Lake, providing a home away from home where families can spend time together around a campfire, overlooking the lake and the beauty of nature. They could fish, kayak, and attend astronomy programs at the brand-new Iverson Observatory and watch the baby bison play in the summer.
We could create a wedding venue at Timmons Grove South. Imagine a large shelter with big glass doors that can open on beautiful nights, leading out to a grassy lawn surrounded by prairie and trees -- a perfect location close to Marshalltown to tie the knot.
We could connect Sand Lake to the Linn Creek Trail, so youth and families can ride their bikes out to the lake to picnic. They could fish while they are there, with amenities like running water and bathrooms. The veteran home could bring residents out to fish on the accessible fishing pier that overhangs the water’s edge.
We could remove invasive plant species from all of the parks and replant areas with trees and prairie plants, strengthening the health of the environment around us.
We could connect the Iowa River's Edge Trail to the Highway 330 Trail to the Heart of Iowa Nature Trail, which connects to the High Trestle Trail and Raccoon River Trail, creating hundreds of miles of trail access for Marshall County residents. We could restore the beautiful historical Hoy Bridge and create a hidden gem that social media influencers would flock to.
I could go on and on! And there would still be money left over from the $168 million. So, what would you spend your $168 million on? I’m guessing your ideas are probably very different from mine.
Ironically, I don’t play the lottery; I’m too cheap. But it doesn’t hurt to dream, to think of all the good that you can do in this world with millions of dollars. And no, I may not be able to contribute millions to projects, but I know I can make a difference, even if it’s small or takes years to accomplish the dream. As Albert Einstein once said, “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.”
Emily Herring is the Marshall County Conservation Director.